Manhunt snares US inmates who killed prison guards

This combination of undated pictures courtesy of the Georgia Department of Corrections shows escaped convicts Ricky Dubose (L) and Donnie Rowe, who escaped from a prison in Georigia June 13, 2017

A pair of US convicts who overpowered and killed their guards in a brazen jailbreak in the southern state of Georgia were recaptured after a two-day manhunt, authorities said.

The felons, Donnie Rowe, 43, and Ricky Dubose, 24, had been described as "dangerous beyond description" by Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills, who coordinated the search.

The pair shot to death two prison officers during the escape in the early hours of Tuesday, as they were being moved between two penal facilities.

Rowe, considered a sociopath by authorities, was described as a recidivist with a long list of convictions and was serving a life sentence for armed robbery and other crimes.

Officials said Dubose is also a hardened criminal despite his relative youth, as well as being a member of the notorious "Ghostface Gangsters" white supremacist group.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said on Twitter that they had been captured and the state's governor indicated that they had been detained in the neighboring state of Tennessee.

"CAPTURED: Fugitives in custody following car chase in TN. More info will be forthcoming," Governor Nathan Deal tweeted.

The convicts were among 30 inmates being transported by bus when the drama unfolded Tuesday. The rear of the vehicle was equipped with a caged area where inmates were secured, with the guards in a separate compartment at the front.

Somehow, the pair managed to free themselves and force their way into the front of the vehicle, overpowering the guards and killing them with their own firearms.

The guards were named as Christopher Monica, a strapping 42-year-old, and Curtis Billue, 58, an experienced and highly-regarded prison worker.

The vehicle's security camera footage was being reviewed to piece together how the prisoners managed to wrest away the guards' weapons -- and to determine which of the inmates pulled the trigger.

- $130,000 reward -

Rowe and Dubose abandoned the other prisoners and vanished, armed with the slain guards's nine-millimeter pistols.

Authorities had urged the public to be vigilant, and warned against approaching them.

The FBI was involved in a nationwide search after authorities suspected the escapees had fled Georgia.

Dubose, who was serving a 20-year prison sentence at the time of his escape, was described as having a neck covered with hard-to-miss tattoos, with more ink drawings, in the shape of a crown, engraved over his eyebrows.

Rowe and Dubose shared a cell in prison, but authorities had said they couldn't be certain if that is where they hatched their escape plan.

As a security precaution, inmates typically are kept in the dark about plans to transport them.

After their bloody jailbreak, the two convicts were spotted in the town of Madison where they broke into a house and helped themselves to clothes that would make them less noticeable.

They then hijacked a Honda Civic, which was discovered hidden in a wooded area on Wednesday, and were believed to have stolen a white Ford pickup truck.

The reward for information leading to their capture had been gradually increased from $60,000 to $130,000.